A WIRRAL historian has become the only British author shortlisted for an international book prize worth more than £50,000.

Dr Tim Grady, from Bebington, wrote 'A Deadly Legacy: German Jews and the Great War' about the experience of German Jews in the First World War before it was published by Yale University Press in 2017.

Now, the book has been shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize.

Worth around £57,000, the prize is awarded each year to the book that 'embodies historical scholarship, originality, literary quality and broad appeal.'

Other shortlisted works include Pulitzer Prize winners Anne Applebaum, Ron Chernow and David I Kertzer.

 

A Deadly Legacy: German Jews and the Great War

Dr Grady, who is a reader in Modern History at the University of Chester, told the Globe: “To be longlisted for an international book prize was exciting enough – to be in the shortlist is amazing news.

"I’m really pleased to have made it to this point, and to be among such prestigious company. In writing the book, it was a real privilege to piece together the traces of individual lives and to discover their wartime hopes and aspirations. It is these stories that are at the very core of this book.

"On a personal level, it has been a tremendous honour to have been in the running for two major history prizes this year – and it’s fantastic that this type of history has been recognised in this way.”

Dr Grady's book was also one of just six shortlisted for this year's Wolfson History Prize.

The book examines the lives of 100,000 Jewish soldiers who served in the German military as well as Jewish communities at home.

It also explores the aftermath of the war and finds that German Jews were treated as insignificant due to the defeat and revolution of Germany.

Head of the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Chester Professor Meggen Gondek said: “The Department is exceptionally proud of Dr Grady’s achievements.

"The nominations he has received for this book show how excellent and accessible scholarship form the basis of our teaching and research here in the Department of History and Archaeology at the University.”

The three finalists will be announced at Massey College, Toronto on October 31; the winner at the Cundill History Prize Gala at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on November 15.